Discuss Immigration Issues with a Mexican American. Truth, Honesty and the American Way!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

BREAKING NEWS: OBAMA Acceptance Speech Highlights: It´s Time for Republicans to Own their own Failure! It´s Time for Us to Change America!

Here is the Obama Speech - Key Points:Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land – enough! This moment – this election – is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives – on health care and education and the economy – Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors – the man who wrote his economic plan – was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it. For over two decades, he’s subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is, you’re on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, even if you don’t have boots. You’re on your own.Well, it’s time for them to own their failure. It’s time for us to change America.

What is the American promise?It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves – protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America – the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.I will cut taxes – cut taxes – for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy – wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.America, now is not the time for small plans.Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American – if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime – by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less – because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy. And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility – that's the essence of America's promise.And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell – but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice – but it is not the change we need.We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans – have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose – our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore. We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise – the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.You make a big election about small things. And you know what – it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past.You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us – that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it – because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.America, this is one of those moments.I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.Instead, it is that American spirit – that American promise – that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours – a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.But what the people heard instead – people of every creed and color, from every walk of life – is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one."We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise – that American promise – and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.

Frankly, I do not care what the media thought of the speech. They get paid for commentary.

He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors – the man who wrote his economic plan – was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

But is he wrong? By definition, we are not in a recession Dee. And we have become a nation of whiners.

WHOA! WAIT! I've heard this proposed by Republicans in office for years, and the Dems shot it down every single time. I made a prediction that they would make it sound like their idea, I guess I was right....

I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America.

So..... when the Republicans throw money at "big-business" it's bad, but when Dems do it, it's ok?

I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars

Subsidizing, meaning using tax dollars.....

And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy – wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

These things already exists. The problem is cost and zoning regulations, not lack of technology.

I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability.

This has already been going on, and it isn't working. New York for example is one of the "richest" when it comes to educational spending. However, they rank somewhere in the 50's when it come to quality. The problem starts in the student's home.... I shouldn't give him any ideas.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums.

Through taxes.....

If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves.

Expanding welfare.....

And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

This will sound bad.....How old was she? How treatable was the cancer? Shelling out tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of dollars for a 75 year old with a brain tumor may seem like a get-me-by......

But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less – because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

Um..... Bush did this and was blasted by the Dems for it...... But hey it's Barak, he can do it......

But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

"I wanna cut his nuts out"- Jesse Jackson.Ever wonder that maybe Jesse Jackson took that personally because of his "Love Child"?

My insurance costs are going down and I won't have to pay any taxes. There will be peace all over the world. My "brothers and sisters" will take care of me in my old age. And, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Oprah Winfrey will finance it all.

Dee, neocons are not "uber" conservatives. They are former liberals who were very anti-Communist and wanted a more aggressive foreign policy to "spread democracy." Bill Kristol's father is one of the "fathers" of the movement. IOW, they are more liberal on social and fiscal issues and more interventionist in foreign policy than traditional paleoconservatives were. So Bill Kristol's reaction wasn't really that surprising if you understand where he's coming from.

So many people think "neocon" means "ultra conservative." This couldn't be farther from the truth.

No doubt that Obama is a great orator. But I still see a person who is a straight down the line liberal. I see no evidence that he has any tendencies to compromise with the other side to solve problems. On the contrary, the evidence suggests that he is a typical liberal who will vote his ideology. As well his radical associations make me uneasy. He came up through the far left Chicago political machine; are these the types of folks who will be put in positions of influence in our government? As I said, I am not comfortable with this.

And really, does raising taxes on "the rich" help the economy? These are the people who create the jobs. Seems to me that when you increase their taxes, they are just going to cut back in other places (lay offs?) or stop expanding. Poor people don't create jobs.

That doesn't mean that I'm all agog over McCain either. But we're talking about Obama here.

Two biggest areas I did not agree:1. Big Business: I agree with Obama that we should help GM and other American Auto companies to "re-tool" to make fuel efficient cars. I do NOT agree with Bush to provide his crony friend no bid contracts (e.g. GEO Group - Private Prisons, Blackwater and Haliburton "contract" work, etc.)

2. Barak´s mom was 53 when she died of Cancer. I do support Universal Healthcare.

Obama admits the economic problems here in the US are not the making of our government (Bush Policies).

"Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.These challenges are not all of government's making."

Yet he suggests that Government come in and subsidize everything and everybody, but mostly those who were stupid and ignorant in their financial choices. So we all must pay for the mistakes of the few.

That is both ridiculous and stupid. Where were they when the tech bubble burst, now they want to bail out the housing market? We pay for the greed of the builders, the bankers, and the local governments. I DON'T THINK SO!!

So Obama has new ideas. What are they one might ask? To be sure, like any good politician, he offers something for everyone: the teachers’ union, veterans, “working families”, college students, taxpayers, small businesses, alternative energy developers, the war in Afghanistan, poverty, and health care. He claims he has already identified the sources of funds to pay for all of this but in the next breath says he will (future tense) go through the budget line by line and eliminate those programs that don’t work and close loopholes. This suggests that he really hasn’t figured out how to pay for all of this yet.He said he would reduce taxes for 95% of “working families”. Has that term ever been defined? Who does it include? Who does it exclude? Does a working family have to have a blue collar at its head? How about retirees on a fixed income? Do they get a tax break? How about those with 401ks? Will he impose new taxes on the dividends and capital gains earned by the underlying mutual funds of 401ks and other pension funds on which retirees depend? His words may sound good to the uninformed but not to someone who is tax-savvy or who is a retiree.

He says drilling for more oil can only be a stop gap measure yet if we exploit all natural gas and oil deposits available in the United States and offshore, there would be enough to last us for the rest of this century, especially if we stabilize our population. Of course, we must push ahead with the development of alternative energy sources of all kinds with great urgency. Everyone knows that. Obama is preaching to the choir on that issue. His reluctance to wholeheartedly endorse the development of all of our oil and gas resources, even as a stopgap, should be troubling to every American who understands how energy dependent our society and economy is.

Now to Afghanistan. It is here that Obama demonstrates his ignorance of the war on terror. He made fun of McCain’s remark that he would follow Bin Laden to his cave. Obama has no appreciation of the fact that that is exactly what we have been trying to do while we concurrently deal with a resurgent Taliban. Obama has no new ideas in that area except to close down the war in Iraq “responsibly” (this is a new term for him, earlier he wanted us to withdraw with no pre-conditions) and place those troops in harm’s way in Afghanistan. He doesn’t know or doesn’t comprehend that the Brits and the Russians both came a cropper in that backward and unruly country. Its history indicates that any expansion of that war will expose our troops to unspeakable casualties and hardships. Obama has no plan for finding Bin Laden or bringing that conflict to a close “responsibly”. Afghanistan will be his Iraq if not worse.

I don't. Many states already have laws against refusing service in regards to health care. What you are supporting is Free Health Care. Someone has to pay for it Dee, and why should you have to pay for my health care?

When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights.

Hey Barak, you were elected to the Senate in 2004, took your post in 2005. McCain said those words in 2003. Sounds like: “I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.”-Hillary Roddam Clinton

McCain had provided no clear description of how he will extricate us from Iraq. He has provided no clear plan of how to transition us from dependency on oil in the middle east. He offers no plans for diplomacy and increasing our country´s respect across the world. He has offered no clear plan on reducing our deficit, taxes or improving our economy. Instead his cronies call us a nation of whiners.

You complain about Barack, but you provide us no solutions! Just more of the same!

GEO no bid contractor are the largest owner of Detention Centers being the best at what they do? How ludicrous! The Detention Centers are the redux of the Japanese Internment Camps and the Concentration Camps of WW2. Deplorable conditions for the migrants and their families! And they are costing taxpayers multi millions, all to no bid contract GOP cronies!!

John McCain cares and he gets it. You shouldn’t spend money that you don’t have, i.e. with a huge national debt and a budget that is not due to be balanced until 2013, and probably never with Obama’s spending plans. Although few Americans want to hear it, we have become a nation of whiners. Instead of his own personal logo on his plane, Obama needs a logo with a slash mark through the word “whining”. The whining began when we found out that we bought more house, cell phones, cars and color TVs than we can afford. The whining began when we spent what we should have been saving for a rainy day. The whining began when we failed to take the personal responsibility for our health care by opening a minimal HSA – and then we got sick.

Out of work? Thank the democrats for their open borders philosophy that allows cheap labor to cross the border and take your jobs. And, oh by the way, you can apply for unemployment compensation or take a job flipping hamburgers. There is no free lunch.

No health care insurance? Have you heard of HSAs or have you been hoping Obama would tap the rest of us to pay your bills? Of course, you can always do what the illegals do – go to the nearest emergency room for free care.

Born into poverty without shoes? Go to the nearest yard sale or used clothing store and get some shoes for a song. How many people have you actually seen who were barefooted because they had no shoes? Shame on Barack! After all, $200 Nikes are not a necessity when you are down on your luck. There is no need to be without shoes but you do need to pull yourself up by the bootstraps.

He finally got some of this right. The government should protect us from physical and economic harm by continuing the battle against terrorism, by curbing illegal immigration, and by stabilizing our population. However schools are a local problem and federal interference is unwanted except by the teachers’ union. He said nothing about pork barrel spending and how he would divert these funds to fix our infrastructure and make the other investments he suggests.

""That's the promise of America – the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

He got the first part of that right but somehow he has confused the idea of personal responsibility with being responsible for everyone else as well. I want my brothers and sisters to accept the idea that they are responsible for themselves, as they are.

Let’s let the IRS re-write the code with the charge of grossly simplifying it and eliminating all the social engineering and special breaks that have crept in over the years, on a revenue neutral basis. American workers past (retirees) and present deserve no less.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for a long time under both Democrat and Republican administrations. John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them and Joe Biden for thirty-five of them. And today, we import triple the amount of oil we did back then. Neither party realized the importance of domestic drilling nor the development of alternative energy sources on a grand scale because oil was cheap. Now everyone is stumbling over each other to embrace both. We have enough oil and gas to last until the next century if all would endorse the idea of drilling, even as a stop-gap measure as we pursue long-term solutions. The idea of neglecting oil and gas drilling while hoping for alternative energy sources to come on line is unthinkable for an energy-dependent society and economy like ours. Obama doesn’t like that idea because it isn’t his. Good heavens, if he were to endorse drilling on a grand scale someone might say, “By god, the GOP was right about this and the Democrats finally had to admit it.”

It is true that we need to improve education. We rank behind 20 or more other countries in math and science yet they spend less on education than we do. That means that the old discredited Democrat approach of throwing money at the problem has failed and will not work. If we increase the pay of teachers, we will still have the same ineffective faculty in our schools. We have to stop dumbing down our curricula for the slowest and least-motivated kids. Barack and Michelle were not there because they were given a chance for an education. They were there because they took advantage of the educational opportunities that were there and because their parents insisted on it and provided the help and encouragement they needed to succeed.

Teachers are recruited locally and paid from local property tax receipts. The Obama plans sounds like another layer of taxes in keeping with the discredited tax and spend philosophy of the Democrats.

the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums.

How? By creating a whole new federal bureaucracy and substituting higher taxes for lower premiums? That offset will not lower the net cost of health care. It is just another Obama rhetorical trick. Such a deal -- lower insurance premiums but increase taxes by double the amount of that reduction. Whew! Talk about snake oil salesmen and demagogues – there are none better than Nobama.

All of Nobama's plans will cost money. If he has laid how he will pay for every dime, shouldn’t he enlighten us with the details so we can see and judge for ourselves? What are these corporate loopholes and tax havens? How much will closing each of them actually produce in new revenue? What is the detailed cost of each his plans? I detect a high degree of glibness in his remarks in this area.

“Change” is not the sole province of Obama. Our policy has always been if the Iraqis ask us to leave we will do so. We have now implemented that policy by negotiating with the Iraqi’s on a time table. This orderly and responsible withdrawal has become possible because of the progress we have made in training the Iraqi army and police force and because the surge, which Obama has never supported and on which he has been in a persistent state of denial.

Many have made the point that the Iraqi’s are now in a position to pay for their own reconstruction and we should turn off our spigot. McCain has never had a position other than to end this war honorably and responsibly as soon as possible. No one wants to continue beyond that point. There is no stubborn refusal. That is Obama’s invention.

"Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers."

This is pure fluff -- one sentence on the critical issue of our time. No one wants to separate a mother from her infant child. She is guilty of child abuse if she does not take the child with her. This problem is easily fixed by passing HR 1940 now.

“By god, the GOP was right about this and the Democrats finally had to admit it.”

I always figured that, knowing Americans have 5 second memories, they would wait till they have control of the white house again and make it appear as though it was their idea.

On a side note, the largest consumer of oil in the US is the US government with over 50% of all domestic oil consumption. Imagine that. Double the size of the government, you need almost triple the oil. Then throw in that every single person in a household "needs" their own car and.....

I love the idea of alternative energy, but it's mostly unreliable. Not due to our technology, but due to where our technology gets it's source from. Turbines need wind, hydroelectric needs running water, and solar needs sunlight. Relying on environmental variables is tricky at best.

Obama's plans are Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. He doesn't have any fresh ideas, just the old discredited tax and spend stale ideas that have always characteristed the Democrat party. Nobama doesn't have a record to run on, so he is free to offer everything to everyone. He can paint his opponent as an ogre. He himself feeds on the cynicism we all have about government.

Obama has no corner on "change". McCain has already pointed out a number of areas in which he disagres with the present administration. That signals change to me not the litany of "4 more years of the same that the Dems have been peddling. Now they are believing their own campaign propaganda and press releases.

"he will extricate us from Iraq. He has provided no clear plan of how to transition us from dependency on oil in the middle east. He offers no plans for diplomacy and increasing our country´s respect across the world. He has offered no clear plan on reducing our deficit, taxes or improving our economy. Instead his cronies call us a nation of whiners."

His plan is just as definite as Obama's "responsible" withdrawal. That leaves the door open for Obama to keep the troops there longer than any of his anti-war friends have even thought about. I would place more faith in McCain's judgment on how and when we can withdraw responsibly than I would instant expert Obama. If things continue down the present path with more Iraqis trained to do the job, there is no reason to expect that country to ask to stay beyond the schedule recently negotiated which Obama wants to take credit for.

With regard to energy independence, McCain has endorsed everything that Obama has and more. Obama wants to spend $150 billion over ten years to achieve that goal at the same time as he increases federal outlays for all manner of new federal programs.

Obama, to my knowledge has never even mentioned any of his ideas on how to reduce the national debt and balance the budget while all his new spending is going on. It is obvious he has no such ideas and would prefer to avoid that topic altogether.

Obama offers no plans either regarding diplomatic initiatives, just a lot of promises and rhetoric. Those are not plans.

I look with a jaundiced eye on all the promises candidates make on the campaign trail and at the conventions. Few such promises ever see the light of day because there are a bunch of congressmen who have other ideas to assure their re-election and to line their own pockets. I am hopeful that the present budget projections will result in a balanced budget by 2013. That will require some restraint on the part of whomever becomes president. I believe John McCain is most likely to exercise the restraint because he does not have the grandiose spending plans that Obama does. Maybe the stark reality of the budget and deficit situations will also curb Obama's appetite for more spending if he is elected. However, I am not sanguine about that given all his promises. Instead I would expect more tax and spend like previous dem administrations/

Ulty,This guy has it right:"Here are some Republican policies and platforms that have put us in our current mess and would tend to keep us longer in it than necessary:

1) Bankruptcy Bill - it was a nice benefit for credit card companies and banks when the number of potential bankruptcies was low but a mess if people are going to need to reset because they have lost their jobs or are over-committed to fixed spending.

2) All policies that support low-cost mortgages. Most of these are Fed policies but there is an amazing amount of collusion between Republican Presidents and Federal Reserve Chairman.

3) All tax cuts that were not offset by spending cuts on both the national and local level.

4) The Medicare spending plan that obligated the government to pay for medications but did not empower them to negotiate the price.

5) All costly foreign wars that cost billions of dollars a week with no clear national objective.

5a) All mercenary programs that have stemmed from our foreign wars that cost us roughly 10X as much as it would cost the military itself to spend.

6) All Republican policies - both national and local - that support consumer spending, suburban development and oil dependence.

7) All capital repatriation plans whose objective was to provide large corporations with a means to take offshore profits onshore tax free at a huge cost to our nation.

8) And, in terms of errors of omission, the relative lack of involvement in managing the healthcare crisis which means that businesses (like mine) and individuals are paying substantially more than the rest of the world for medical costs.

There is no other way to say it. Republicans have tried to be Santa Claus to the big businesses and the wealthy and in the process have dug a massive hole. In order to get out, the worst possible idea is to listen to the dimwits who got us here in the first place."

"The view of Bushenomics is that the Bush administration and its cronies came at the economy with the attitude of oilmen.

They inherited a vastly wealth country. They looked at it like the oil under the Alaskan wilderness. They craved to pump it out, turn it into cash and grab as much of that cash as possible. Wherever possible, they literally sold off the assets. This was called privatization. Our biggest asset -- in terms of size -- is, of course, our defense establishment. With privatization, one dollar out of every three for direct military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan goes to private contractors like Halliburton and Blackwater. So when someone says, "Support the troops!" with budget appropriations, they should really yell, "Two-thirds support to the troops! One third support to Halliburton, et al.!"

Arizonian,I am very familiar with outsourcing and contract workers. I work in a very large firm so obviously I have worked with many.

From my experience, the cost of a contractor can easily become unmanageable. The reason - conflicting Missions: 1. The purpose of my company is to increase Earnings (EBITDA) for my company.2. The purpose of Contractor X is to grow Earnings for Contractor X.

Therefore Contractor X does everything in its power to attempt to make your company dependent on them, therefore raising their earnings.

This is what has been happening most of our Defense Contractors, including Halliburton and Blackwater! They are predators!!

Page Hits

PASS THE DREAM ACT & COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM NOW!

Facebook Badge: Immigration Talk with a Mexican American

(click on picture to link to Facebook Page)

Immigration Talk with a Mexican American

Blog Mission

A PRO Forum where people, both PRO and ANTI, can discuss American Immigration Issues and Political Issues civilly, freely and safely thereby reducing the hate, anger and misunderstandings currently inherent in most of these discussions.

About This Blog

This Blog promotes the discussion of opinions of the Blog Owner and commenters who wish to participate in the discussion about Immigration Issues and Political Issues.

Many blog entries contain details from actual news articles and urls are included for reader reference.

In some instances, individuals referenced in the blog are defendants who may be coming to trial or whose trial is in progress. All defendants are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

It should be noted by all Blog Readers and this is to officially confirm that for all articles on this blog where court cases have not been ruled upon, the word ALLEGED is inserted prior to the defendants name/crime.

MY BOOKS

About Me

Hello. My name is Dee. I live in Texas. I am an American. My ethnicity is Hispanic. Many would call me Mexican or Mexican American. Some call me a female, PRO-Immigration Reform - Ann Coulter.
My parents, their parents and theirs were all born in the USA.
My husband and I have been happily married for over 20 years. My husband is a big, Irish-American. We have two grown sons. We are happy and my family is doing well. I have been employed as a mid level manager at a very large, well known corporation for over 25 years, now recently retired.
In May, 2006, after the Immigration Marches, I started seeing the cable news channels talking very negatively about illegal immigration. I found many internet sites were talking negatively about legal and illegal immigration issues as well.
Since I do research on the job, I started conducting Immigration research on the web. I joined several Immigration websites and I researched others. I´ve learned so much about Immigration issues over the last year.
What you don´t see on the internet is the Mexican American perspective.
I am here to share my views with you.